Treescene B

Treescene B is a variant within Namiki's wider series of generically titled tree subjects, a body of work in which named trees and specific places give way to more contemplative, unspecific arrangements of trunks and foliage. The print likely depicts either a solitary tree or a small grove placed centrally against a graduated [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) ground, the background wiped from light to dark by hand on the moistened block. In his treatment of these scenes Namiki tends to favour a restrained palette of greens, blues or warm earth tones, the colour built up across multiple registrations from individually carved key and colour blocks. As with all his work he carves and prints himself in the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) manner, using water-based pigment, handmade [washi](/glossary/washi), and a [baren](/glossary/baren). The 'B' suffix marks this as one state in a paired or grouped variant of the same composition. Treescene prints occupy the centre of his practice: rather than recording particular sites, they offer the tree as a subject of sustained, almost meditative attention—the strand of his work that has secured his standing among contemporary mokuhanga collectors.